Talent Cards

When making Readiness checks or checks to resist panic, surprise, fear, or sudden pressure, remove 1 Bane Die caused by fear, confusion, shock, or being caught off guard.

Once per turn, draw, ready, stow, or retrieve one item as a Quick Action instead of a Maneuver.

This item must be reasonably accessible. Fast Hands does not let you unpack a buried item, assemble a complex object, or bypass a meaningful obstacle.

As a Maneuver, take a defensive posture. Until the start of your next turn, attacks against you add 1 Bane Die.

You must be able to move, defend yourself, or use available cover. Guarded ends early if you are Immobilized, Staggered, helpless, or otherwise unable to defend yourself.

Increase your Wound Points by 2.

You may purchase this talent multiple times; each purchase after the first increases Wound Points by only 1. Unless the Universe says otherwise, Hardy cannot increase your Wound Points above 20 + Might.

When you assist another character, they add two assisting dice instead of one: either +2 Boon Dice, or +1 Boon Die and +1 Ability Die if you have more ranks in the relevant skill than the character you are assisting.

This does not override the two-die assisting limit. The assist must represent meaningful help; the GM has final say.

Once per scene, remove 1 Bane Die from a Perception check caused by poor visibility, distance, distraction, concealment, or clutter.

Once per turn, when you fail a check but generate at least 1 net Boon, you may spend 1 Boon to gain a minor narrative advantage related to the failed attempt.

Examples include landing in a better position, learning something useful, avoiding a worse consequence, keeping hold of an item, or setting up an ally.

Gain 1 rank in one skill, respecting normal rank limits.

Skilled grants the rank directly; do not also pay the normal skill XP cost for that rank. Each purchase applies to a different skill unless the Universe allows otherwise. At character creation, Skilled is bound by the same rank caps as direct skill purchase: rank 2 for any skill, or rank 3 for one profession skill if the Universe permits. Skilled does not bypass these caps.

Choose one skill and one narrow use of that skill, such as "Stealth in urban shadows," "Medicine to stabilize the dying," "Ranged with bows," or "Craft to repair vehicles."

Once per scene, when making that specific kind of check, upgrade one Ability Die in the pool to one Mastery Die. If the pool has no Ability Dice to upgrade, add 1 Boon Die instead.

May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different specialty.

Increase your Strain Points by 2.

You may purchase this talent multiple times; each purchase after the first increases Strain Points by only 1. Unless the Universe says otherwise, Steadfast cannot increase your Strain Points above 20 + Willpower.

When making Survival checks involving travel, shelter, food, water, weather, tracking, or route-finding, remove 1 Bane Die caused by natural terrain or ordinary environmental hardship.

When you keep, read or audit accounts, contracts, rents, interest or a tax company's books, roll Lore (Trade) with 1 Boon Die. Spend 2 Boons to find what someone meant to hide, such as a mismatched payment, a misplaced name or an unrecorded loan.

Favored by: Equestrian House and Publicanus, Merchant and Moneylender, Scribe and Accountant, Household Steward.

Choose a city quarter at creation. Roll Streetwise with 1 Boon Die there and when dealing with its crossroads college. Spend 2 Boons to find out who pays the local hired men this month.

Favored by: Innkeeper and Shopkeeper, Thief and Informer, Entertainer and Courtesan.

When you attend a dinner by invitation, Read the Room at Easy instead of Average (Era Rules, Patronage and Rank, Attitude V). On any social check at dinner, spend 2 Boons to find out one guest's debt, quarrel or wish.

Favored by: Senator's House, Priest and Diviner, Vestal Virgin, Tutor and Philosopher, Envoy and Interpreter, Entertainer and Courtesan.

Roll Survival with 1 Boon Die to track people or animals, or Stealth with 1 Boon Die near a camp or lair. Spend 2 Boons to learn what passed, how many and how long ago, or to take a tracked beast alive with a net or pit.

Favored by: Auxiliary, Scout and Huntsman.

When you address at least ten people at once, add 1 Boon Die to Charm. This includes an advocate's verdict check (Era Rules, Law and Courts). Use the dice in Elections for the canvass instead (Era Rules, Patronage and Rank). Spend 2 Boons to single out one named person in the crowd. He answers on the spot or suffers public shame (Era Rules, Patronage and Rank, Dignitas VI).

Favored by: Advocate, Senator's House, Priest and Diviner, Tutor and Philosopher.

Requires the Vestal Virgin Role. Keep wills, treaties or objects entrusted to you in the house of Vesta. No check removes them. Only the Pontifex Maximus may order their removal. Roman citizen audiences mark Vestal at Welcome 1 or better (Era Rules, Patronage and Rank, Attitude). Once per campaign, spare a condemned person you happen to meet on the way to punishment by swearing the meeting was accidental (Plutarch, Numa 10.3).

Favored by: Vestal Virgin.

Roll Average instead of Hard Medicine for Care on campaign or without rest, clean water and food (Era Rules, Medicine and Illness, Care). Treat up to two patients in one house or camp on the same Care check. Roll Medicine with 1 Boon Die for a Critical Injury or a delivery.

Favored by: Physician and Midwife.

When you roll Riding to stay mounted, remove 1 Bane Die, which can be the bareback die (The Stable, Tack, Riding saddle). Once per turn, you can get on or off a Scale 2 mount as a Quick Action instead of a maneuver. Modifies The Stable, Riding, Getting On and Off, and Core Rules, Structured Play, Quick Actions, for you only.

Favored by: Auxiliary, Officer, Scout and Huntsman.

When you roll Perception or Streetwise about the people or stores of a house you know or serve, add 1 Boon Die. For 2 Boons, learn who came or went in the past day and when.

Favored by: Physician and Midwife, Scribe and Accountant, Household Steward, Innkeeper and Shopkeeper.

Speak two additional tongues at no XP cost. With no tongue in common, roll Easy instead of Average Charm or Perception to pass a simple message (Tongues). If you interpret between two parties, one party rolls Negotiation with 1 Boon Die.

Favored by: Scribe and Accountant, Tutor and Philosopher, Envoy and Interpreter.

In full kit, remove 1 Bane Die when you roll Athletics to march, climb, swim or dig. If you help build a marching camp, 3 or more net Banes on the Group Check leave low works instead of unfinished works at dark (Legion Battles, Camp and Siege Works). Once per session, finish a foot journey of at least two days half a day early (Era Rules, Travel).

Favored by: Legionary, Centurion, Officer, Scout and Huntsman.

Use Easy instead of Average Negotiation or Craft to value goods, livestock or an enslaved person (Gear and Prices). Roll Negotiation with 1 Boon Die when you trade at a market.

Favored by: Merchant and Moneylender, Farmer and Bailiff, Household Steward, Artisan and Builder, Innkeeper and Shopkeeper.

Aboard ship, take 1 Bane Die for the ship's motion out of any Athletics, Melee or Operate (Sail) pool. Use Easy instead of Average Survival to follow a coast in daylight with land in sight.

Favored by: Merchant and Moneylender (a shipmaster), Sailor and Marine.

When you drive a chariot, cart or team, roll Operate with 1 Boon Die, including every race leg and save (The Arena and the Games, The Chariot Race, gives odds without this talent). If the team panics, reduce the Riding difficulty by one step, to a minimum of Easy (The Stable, Riding, Control).

Favored by: Gladiator and Charioteer, Farmer and Bailiff.

If you and an ally beside you are Engaged and both carry shields, add 1 to your Ranged Defense. Add this to your shield's Deflection, within the Core cap of 3 (Core Rules, Adversaries, Defense).

Favored by: Legionary, Centurion, Gladiator and Charioteer, Sailor and Marine.

When you sacrifice, read signs or expiate a prodigy before people who observe the rite, add 1 Boon Die to Lore (Rites) and Charm checks. Spend 2 Boons to persuade them that the sign means what you declare, favorable or unfavorable. This changes the audience's reaction only.

Favored by: Priest and Diviner, Vestal Virgin; Senator's House (an augur).

When you roll Leadership or Intimidation with troops you command or recruits you train, add 1 Boon Die . Add the die to your unit's Discipline tests and Rallies when you lead it (Legion Battles, Characters in the Line).

Favored by: Centurion; Gladiator and Charioteer (a trainer).

Roll Craft with 1 Boon Die at a workshop, building site or estate. Once per session, finish a day's work you supervise by midday, such as laying a course of wall, harvesting a field or forging a batch.

Favored by: Farmer and Bailiff, Artisan and Builder.

When you generate 2 or more Boons on a Perception, Readiness, Streetwise, Lore, Medicine, Science, or Survival check, you may spend 2 Boons to ask the GM one yes/no question about the scene, subject, danger, or NPC.

The GM should answer honestly, though the answer may be incomplete if the character lacks access to the full truth.

When you use the Catch Breath Maneuver, recover 2 Strain instead of 1. The Maneuver action type and the once-per-encounter limit on Catch Breath still apply; this talent only changes the amount recovered.

You cannot use Catch Breath while Staggered, unconscious, or otherwise unable to pause and steady yourself.

When making Fortitude checks against fatigue, forced marching, pain, hunger, thirst, suffocation, harsh climates, or exhausting physical strain, remove 1 Bane Die.

When using Charm, Deception, or Negotiation with a plausible argument, credible disguise, fair offer, or believable lie, add 1 Boon Die.

This talent does not help with impossible claims, absurd offers, or lies contradicted by obvious evidence.

Once per scene, when danger would catch you completely unaware, the GM may allow you to make a Perception or Readiness check before the danger fully lands.

Success lets you act normally or warn one ally. Failure may still reduce the severity of surprise at the GM's discretion.

When using Stealth or Subterfuge to avoid attention in a crowd, occupied area, public location, or busy environment, remove 1 Bane Die.

Choose Craft, Medicine, Science, or Operate.

When making checks with the chosen skill using poor tools, improvised tools, damaged equipment, unfamiliar models, or rushed conditions, remove 1 Bane Die.

May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different skill from the list above.

When you recover Strain at the end of an encounter or during a full rest, recover 1 additional Strain.

When receiving care for Wounds, the character treating you adds 1 Boon Die to the Medicine check.

When making Athletics, Melee, Unarmed, or thrown Ranged checks involving throwing, shoving, pushing, pulling, breaking, grappling, or forceful movement, you may spend 1 Boon to move the target or object a short distance, knock it off-balance, or create an opening.

The GM determines what movement is plausible based on size, footing, and the scene. Strong Arm does not apply to bows, firearms, or other non-thrown ranged weapons.

Once per session, after rolling a check, reroll one die in your pool.

You must keep the second result.

When resisting fear, intimidation, despair, coercion, mental pressure, or supernatural dread, remove 1 Bane Die.

When you lose a bout (one scene), a GM-run editor grants missio automatically at Crowd Favor 3 or 4. At 0 to 2, roll your appeal at Average instead of Hard if you've won a bout in this city. You can appeal once per bout (The Arena and the Games, The Editor's Decision).

Favored by: Gladiator and Charioteer.

Once per session, reduce the difficulty of an Ask to your patron by one step, to a minimum of Easy. Your owner counts as your patron if you are enslaved. Very great becomes Hard, Great becomes Average, Ordinary becomes Easy (Era Rules, Patronage and Rank, The Petition). If granted, owe 1 Favor even with 2 or more net Banes . Keep the one-step penalty for a letter and the cap of 3 Favors owed (The Petition, III).

Favored by: Advocate, Senator's House, Equestrian House and Publicanus, Thief and Informer.

Roll Negotiation or Intimidation with 1 Boon Die against someone who owes you money. Call in one debt per session. The debtor pays at once, performs a service the GM judges worth the debt or becomes your antagonist. For loans you make, use Era Rules, Money and Credit.

Favored by: Equestrian House and Publicanus, Merchant and Moneylender.

Pick one use per scene. In a Legion Battle (one scene), if your unit loses a Clash, restore 1 Discipline before paying the loss's Discipline cost, to a maximum of 6. The unit still loses the Strength step (Legion Battles, The Clash). In other combat, when an enemy Engaged with you targets an ally Engaged beside you, declare before the roll that the enemy attacks you instead.

Favored by: Legionary, Centurion.

If you carry your sender's letters and the audience recognizes your office, cap its markers at Wary 1 toward you for the scene, except for legal bars (Closed 3). Once per scene, the first NPC in that audience who would attack you without orders from his superior hesitates. Spend 2 Boons on Negotiation before an audience to be heard before anyone else waiting.

Favored by: Envoy and Interpreter.

When your mount moves this turn, ignore the Bane Die for shooting a bow or throwing a javelin (The Stable, Mounted Combat, Shooting from the Saddle). Also ignore the stirrupless archery die (The Stable, Tack, Stirrups). Spend a maneuver to turn in the saddle as your mount moves away from an enemy. If you shoot or throw a javelin at him this turn, he adds 1 Bane Die to attacks on you until your next turn starts. Modifies The Stable, Mounted Combat, for you only.

Favored by: Auxiliary.

Take this talent with the Officer Role or when a general appoints you to his staff in play. Lead a cohort or wing and roll its Discipline tests with 1 Boon Die (Legion Battles, Characters in the Line). You sit on the general's council and add 1 Boon Die when you petition him (Era Rules, Patronage and Rank, The Petition).

Favored by: Officer.

When engaged with multiple foes, reduce the total Bane Dice imposed by being outnumbered, surrounded, flanked, or pressed by a crowd by 1.

Once per turn, when an engaged enemy misses you and generates at least 1 Bane, you may spend 1 of that enemy's Banes to reposition yourself within Engaged range.

When making Medicine checks to stabilize, treat, or speed recovery, add 1 Boon Die.

When you generate 2 or more Boons on such a check, you may spend 2 Boons to reduce the time required, preserve scarce supplies, or remove 1 additional Wound, as appropriate to the Universe's recovery rules.

You may pay the normal upgrade cost to increase one characteristic by 1, respecting the Universe's normal characteristic limits. You may not take this talent more than once.

Universe-Restricted: Growth is not assumed to be available in every Universe. Universes must explicitly enable Growth and may impose tier, story, or in-fiction gates (such as requiring a milestone, training arc, mentor, ritual, augmentation, or significant in-world event).

Choose one circumstance when you purchase this talent: physical attacks, environmental damage, poison/disease, fear/mental pressure, or social coercion.

When resisting or reducing harm from the chosen circumstance, add 1 Boon Die to the relevant check. If the harm is damage and the GM agrees the talent applies, increase your effective Resistance by 1 against that instance.

May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different circumstance.

When using Stealth or Subterfuge to bypass security, infiltrate a guarded location, escape captivity, or move through a hostile environment unnoticed, add 1 Boon Die.

When you generate 2 or more Boons on such a check, you may spend 2 Boons to gain one of the following narrative effects, GM permitting:

• Learn one specific detail about the area's defenses, occupants, or layout.
• Leave no detectable trace of your passage.
• Place yourself in an advantageous position for your next action.

Choose one skill when you purchase this talent.

Once per session, after rolling a check with that skill, you may spend 1 Fortune Point and convert 2 net Boons into 1 Success.

This conversion happens after normal cancellation. It cannot create a Breakthrough, and it cannot be used if no net Boons remain. May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different skill.

When resisting mental, emotional, fear-based, psychic, or coercive effects, you may downgrade one negative die in the pool.

This effect may be used once per encounter.

As an Action, make a Leadership check targeting one ally at Short range who can hear or understand you.

On success, that ally recovers 1 Strain plus 1 additional Strain per uncancelled Success beyond the first. You may spend 2 Boons to affect one additional ally in range.

Choose one skill.

When making a calm, routine, non-combat check with that skill and the difficulty is Average or lower, you may treat a result with no net Successes and no net Failures as a success with a minor cost or delay.

Reliable Skill does not apply in structured combat, severe danger, opposed checks, or checks with upgraded difficulty unless the GM allows it. May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different skill.

Once per session, declare that you have a plausible small item, contact, clue, preparation, or minor advantage that fits your character and the current situation.

The GM may require a Story Point, a reasonable explanation, or a complication if the declaration is especially convenient.

When making Charm, Deception, or Negotiation checks against a target who has personal stakes in the outcome, such as pride, loyalty, fear, self-image, reputation, or emotional investment, you may downgrade one negative die in the pool.

This effect may be used once per scene. Silver Tongue helps with personal leverage, not impersonal procedure: it does not apply to market pricing, contract terms, treaty bargaining, institutional negotiations, or other situations where the target has no personal skin in the game.

When resisting deception, illusion, false evidence, manipulation, supernatural misdirection, forged signals, or misleading appearances, remove 1 Bane Die.

When you generate 2 or more Boons on the check, you may learn one clue about what is wrong, missing, or inconsistent.

Once per session, when you would be incapacitated by Wounds or Strain, remain functional until the end of your next turn.

After that turn, you suffer the incapacitation normally unless healing, recovery, or another effect prevents it.

When you use Leadership to assist, rally, organize, or direct allies, you may affect one additional ally within range.

When you generate 2 or more Boons on a Leadership check, you may spend 2 Boons to extend the effect by one round, one exchange, or one meaningful beat, depending on the scene.

When operating a vehicle, mount, ship, machine, mech, or similar controlled system, remove 1 Bane Die from checks to avoid crashes, pursuit hazards, difficult maneuvers, incoming attacks, or loss of control.

Universes may rename this talent as Defensive Driver, Ace Pilot, Sure Rider, Helmsmaster, or similar.

Once per round, when an enemy within Short range suffers a condition, generates 3 or more Banes, suffers a Calamity, or is hit by a Breakthrough effect, you may add 1 Boon Die to your next check against that enemy before the end of your next turn.

Once per encounter, when you recover Strain, remove a temporary condition, or receive medical care, increase the recovery effect.

Choose one recovery type that fits the triggering effect: 2 additional Strain recovered, 2 additional Wounds recovered, or one additional step of condition relief.

Choose one skill.

Once per session, when you succeed on a check with that skill and generate at least 2 net Boons, you may immediately create one additional narrative benefit appropriate to the skill and scene.

This benefit should be stronger than a normal Boon spend but weaker than a Breakthrough.

At the start of a structured encounter, after initiative is rolled but before the first turn, make a Perception, Readiness, or Leadership check at Average difficulty.

On success, choose one ally who can see or hear you. That ally adds 1 Boon Die to their first check of the encounter. Spend 2 Boons to affect one additional ally.

Once per session, when you would be defeated, controlled, broken, incapacitated by Strain, overwhelmed by fear, or forced to yield through mental or emotional pressure, you may remain in control long enough to take one immediate Action or Maneuver.

After that action resolves, the original consequence applies unless your action plausibly prevents it.

You may not trigger Defiant Will and Last Stand in the same encounter.

Once per session, when you roll a Calamity, you may also trigger a Breakthrough effect.

The Calamity still occurs. Fatebreaker does not cancel it. Instead, the disaster creates a decisive advantage, revelation, opening, or reversal in your favor.

The Breakthrough effect should be directly connected to the Calamity. Something goes very wrong, and that very failure becomes the reason something else goes right.

Choose one skill.

Once per session, before rolling an important check with that skill, declare it a legendary attempt. Upgrade one positive die in the pool. If the check succeeds, add one additional meaningful narrative effect beyond normal Success and Boon spending.

If the check fails, the failure should still be memorable, costly, or revealing.

Create one named character-defining move, method, tactic, trick, procedure, spell-form, maneuver, or social play.

Work with the GM to define:

• The skill or skills it uses.
• When it can be triggered.
• Its cost, if any.
• Its normal effect.
• What extra effect occurs on 3+ Boons or a Breakthrough.
• What complication may occur on 3+ Banes or a Calamity.

Signature Technique should be narrow, memorable, and strong. It should not replace an entire skill or make other characters irrelevant.